Copyright © 2002 NLThomas
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VERMILLION, SOUTH DAKOTA - The Freedom Forum will fully fund and run an academic journalism program for American Indian college students again this summer and the University of South Dakota will award four hours of college credit to graduates of the three-week course. The American Indian Journalism Institute will offer 25 Native American students the opportunity to train as newspaper reporters, editors and photographers. The institute will be held June 2-21 at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in a college and must have completed their freshman year.

The Freedom Forum Neuharth Center will pay all costs, including tuition, fees, room and board, and it will give students who successfully complete the program a $500 scholarship/stipend. The college-level course is sanctioned through the university's Department of Contemporary Media and Journalism, a nationally accredited journalism department. Students may apply to transfer the credits to other schools where they are enrolled.

Follow-up programs for institute graduates include possible paid internships at daily newspapers, further schooling and eventual job placement, institute organizers said.

The summer institute, in its second year, is one of the most significant journalism programs ever directed at American Indian college students, according to USD journalism Professor Ramon Chavez, who will oversee the institute teaching staff. "The American Indian Journalism Institute will be the first chance for many tribal college students to study journalism," Chavez said. Their schools typically lack journalism classes and school newspapers, the most common route to journalism careers.

The American Indian Journalism Institute is part of the Freedom Forum's commitment to increase employment diversity at daily newspapers.

"Improving diversity -- having just one Native American working in a newsroom -- makes a newspaper more aware of Indians in its community, and more sensitive and intelligent in reporting stories about them," said Jack Marsh, director of the Freedom Forum Neuharth Center at the University of South Dakota. American Indians are by far the most underrepresented people of color in the news media -- and stereotypical and erroneous newspaper coverage of Indian issues and Indian people shows it, said Marsh. Estimates of the number of Native Americans working at daily newspapers range up to about 300 -- out of more than 55,000 journalists nationwide. According to Marsh, director of the summer institute, students will take a concentrated academic program teaching the basics of journalism in a university-approved course titled "Journalism Theory and Practice."

Students will concentrate for one week each on reporting, editing and photography, and help publish a newspaper. Weekly field trips will introduce students to other aspects of journalism such as political reporting and sports writing. Faculty and guest presenters will include professional journalists who are Native American. Each student will have a single room in a dormitory. Meals will be provided on campus.

Participants may be nominated by educators, mentors or other interested parties. Nominations should be made in the form of a letter addressed to: Jack Marsh, director, Freedom Forum Neuharth Center, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, S.D. 57069. Nomination letters should include brief explanations of why nominees should be accepted into the institute and how they can be contacted. Nominees then will be invited to provide further information about themselves and examples of their writing, such as an essay about why they want to attend. Self-nominations also are welcome, as are nominations by e-mail. Nomination letters should be received by April 15, 2002. Students should be able to provide proof of tribal enrollment or lineage, if requested.

For further information, call Jack Marsh, director, Freedom Forum Neuharth Center, phone: 605-677-6315. The Freedom Forum, based in Arlington, Va., is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three main priorities: newsroom diversity, the Newseum and First Amendment issues. The Freedom Forum Neuharth Center at the University of South Dakota honors Allen H. Neuharth, a 1950 graduate of the University of South Dakota who founded USA TODAY and the Freedom Forum.

In addition to journalism education programs at the University of South Dakota, The Freedom Forum Neuharth Center funds and co-directs the Native American Newspaper Career Conference at Crazy Horse Memorial, near Custer, S.D. The workshop, April 23-25, 2002, introduces American Indian high school and tribal college students to the possibilities of a journalism career.